Vanquish Gen 2 advice

I went from Vantage to DB9.2 so that I could take my small children out in it but they got bigger! (Who knew ) But I knew that family days out in an Aston were special to me which is why I went to the Rapide S and then another one (Shadow edition). The 2 Rapides gave me and the family many happy memories. In 2019 I saw a Vanquish S for sale with only 3K miles on the clock and I knew I wanted it. The kids were 20 and 18 by then so Family days out were rare anyway. None of this is to say that the Vanquish is not right for you. It is a beautiful car and at this time I have no intention of letting mine go until I can't drive any more. . (Some more Rapide photos below just to make life hard for you).

Josh

Thank you for making my choice more difficult. My daughter is 12 so still coming with us sometimes!!!

[quote=josh bear]



Hey Josh

Where did you get those special wing badges?

Hi. from the local dealer. They were quite costly! But I loved them. Tried to move them to the Vanquish but the wings on that are much bigger so now they are sat on my shelf.

Josh

Thank you even if your experience with the non S is scary

Hi all,

I am in the same boat looking for a Gen 2 Vanquish. As you can tell by my user name I have a Gen 1 that has 12,800 miles on it and while it drives lovely (for a 20 year old car) I just want something a little more modern that I can use more regularly. When I say regularly I mean at all, I’ve done less than 600 miles in 6 years, time for it to go!

I actually viewed a couple yesterday including a relatively cheap one at Sydney in Tamworth but it was a really low spec and crucially the brake discs looked really pitted and pretty sure they needed replacing, the other one I viewed the discs were smooth like class. When I spoke to the sales guy he really didn’t know what he was on about with the car and basically told me they had bought it cheap off an Aston dealer to pass on, no wonder the Aston dealer let it go cheap….I hope some poor sod doesn’t get stitched up with a £15k brake bill after thinking he/she has got a bargain…..

Simon

Hi mate,

Do you still have your vanquish? I bought a lightning silver with the same wheels as yours last summer in London, not sure if it’s the same car?

Maybe read again not pot stirring at all, i just thought it was worse than its competitiors of the its same manufacture time frame, if you compare it (as you have) with historic cars, then of course it stands up, a few of the cars you mention have also had a place in my history and i would agree.

As i said, not a bad car and considering its the cheapest V12 of that era? 2017-2019? Thinking about it, its probably the best budget V12 money can buy, bit like the Aventador as thats the cheapest mid engined V12 supercar money can buy

‘If’ the V12 is your driving factor and you find people have a little more money, they tend to opt for F12, 812, W12 (tho not V12)

Certainly not stirring though my friend just dont think the car is ‘that’ good vs its counterparts and i took the time to explain why, if you dont agree then great, i’m glad you’re enjoying your car, enough to feel compelled to explain why, good for you

Funnily my experience hasnt put me off Aston but this time i’m quite happy to go with their 4.0tt V8 mercedes offering, mainly due to my lack of love for their V12 but also the merc V8 i have in 2 of my cars and its a very good V8, certainly better than my Mclaren offering.. so my deposit hand is wavering over the new Vantage Roadster but yet to see it..

Its true what you say and i personally regard Ferrari the same, i would never own one myself, also safe to say that not ‘all’ people with enough money to buy either, will in fact chose the ferrari, but more people (not all) who are not car enthusiasts and dont know all the nuances of said marques and want a V12 ,will go the Ferrari route at the Vanquishes point in time, mainly because the Ferrari is the better car dynamically which is whats reflected in reviews and quite rightly so.

Everyone is different,all are looking for something different or need to be told be journos ‘which’ is better, i like to own cars (100s of nothing but sports cars) and make up my own mind and understand why cars sit favourably and not so favourably with certain types, myself included, i understand the following the vanquish has for certain people and aston itself even, theres fanatical owners who wont have a bad thing said about whatever brand they drive, their lives tend to mimic this trait to.

i’m not that person, like yourself, I can own something and love it but need to be aware of it’s issues, if you love it all the same, then you know its right for you, how can you love something without being realistic about its flaws? you cant

Going back to the money comment though, if you removed the money equation altogether (which is how many people with excess money view these kind of purchases anyway) offer joe public with little knowledge of cars; the V12 Vanquish or an F12 free of charge and running costs, most will pick the Ferrari imo, not myself funnily, as even as disappointing as the vanquish was, i’d still have it over the ferrari.

If the ferrari is the rolex of the car world, then aston are the tvr of the supercar world, which i dont mind in the slightest, there’s an understated element to the brand that really sits well with me and why i’m looking to the new Vantage,

Interesting and balanced comments which I completely agree with. Virtually all the reviews at the time of launch bemoaned the fact that the Vanq was just another warmed up version of the same old same old, which was true, but it didn’t stop it from being the best resolved, most exotic and most beautiful VH Aston (V12VSM owners will disagree) this it was always going to be the dream for any fan of that era of AM. When I took an extended drive in a Vanq S, I found it just wasn’t as good as my DB11 in anything other than being much sexier looking inside and out. I couldn’t justify the cost to swap then, and still very often regret it.

Interestingly, the cost to swap from DB11 to gen 2 Vanquish has broadly remained the same so it would still be an option, but these days I’d go for a superleggerra - those things are now representing fantastic value and with the announcement of an updated version of the turbo 5.2 V12 in the upcoming gen 3 Vanquish where they’ve added another 50hp and 100Nm with new turbos, even the DBS 770 will continue to drop.

Where I’d perhaps disagree is this characterising of Ferrari as the ‘Rolex’ of the car/supercar world and then AM as TVR. TVR???

While times change and ‘brands’ evolve and reposition as AM, led by their handbag salesman chairman are somewhat cynically attempting right now with what are basically just revised/facelifted versions of the previous product range with a much nicer interior.

Aside from the warm overs, the strategy seems to be underpinned by turning up the wick - a fair bit with the turbos, but cranking it to the absolute max with the marketing BS. While there’s no doubt the facelifted cars d do represent a substantive improvement, I’m not sure about all the hyperbole.

Before I’d have opined that Porsche are surely the Rolex of super cars. Precision made, expensive, high performance and known to all, but mass produced and relatively bland.

Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley, Rolls, Aston, the old stalwarts, and the newer real players like McLaren, Pagani, Bugatti, Koeniggsegg, take your pick from the more exclusive hand built boutique players who often make high end movements in house - from the really high end for the Bugattis and Paganis of the world Patek, Vacheron, Audemars, Lange, through the likes of JLC, IWC,
Blancpain, Panerai, then Longines, Rolex, Omega etc. There’s quite a few more proud swiss watchmakers you’d get through before you get into the chintzy ‘fashion’ watches you see in high street shop windows, Gucci, Hermes, Chanel.

Sadly it seems that AML are transitioning from being equated with the likes of Jaeger Le Coultre to being more equated with Gucci. Let’s hope Mr Stroll is targeting being equated with the best of the fashion brands (as far as the watches go) - Cartier.

So… at the very least, the Gen 2 Vanq which OP wanted opinion on, is from a different era of AML, when it was, in the main, run by engineers from Dr Bez through to Dr Palmer. The VH cars while flawed and samey were still undeniably a family of beautiful supermodels with fantastic sounding n/a engines and lovely hydraulic steering.

If you are past needing to get everywhere at 200mph - I don’t see how you can go much wrong with any Gen 2 Vanq. It’s the final exquisite resolution of 20yrs of development of engine and 15yrs of chassis and is more than quick enough for most mortals. It produces (esp the S) probably the best noise of any car - and the pleasure one can get from just looking at it is more than worth the price…